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AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS www.ahwatukee.com COMMUNITY
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
@AhwatukeeFN |
Residents call city freeway impact study too little, too late
Snowing her a good time
COOKIE TIME
@AhwatukeeFN
AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS
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BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
AHWATUKEE Kyrene rolls out middle school re-do
A FOOTHILLS NEWS
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(Larry Mangino/AFN staff photographer)
Two-year-old Erin Lindgren, held by a woman who identified herself as “Aunt Casey,” enjoys some of the 20 tons of snow that Mountain View Lutheran Church in Ahwatukee brought in for its annual Winter Festival. For more photos of the snow fest, see page. 24.
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Kyrene middle school students to see major change in academics, study opportunities and support SPECIAL REPORT
BUDDING STAR
BY PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
Akimel 7th grader opens Maricopa film fest
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yrene School Superintendent Jan Vesely is rolling out a plan to revamp the district’s middle schools. It is designed to improve students’ academic performance, make them more self-reliant and give them greater freedom
KEYSTONE
MONTESSORI A Foundation for a Lifetime of Learning
to pursue studies in areas that interest them. It also involves a significant overhaul of the district’s athletic program to increase the options and opportunities for students. It will provide more intensive intervention for students struggling academically and will make grading and academic programs more consistent among all six middle schools. The plan was unveiled to the governing See
s a member of the Phoenix South Mountain Preservation Committee, Robin Salthouse has fretted for 15 years about a freeway ripping through Ahwatukee’s signature landmark. And as a resident near 40th Street between Chandler Boulevard and Ray Road in Ahwatukee, she has pressed the city for more than three years to study and prepare for the impact of traffic that the South Mountain Freeway’s construction is expected to divert from Pecos Road. But Salthouse and her neighbors are not encouraged by the city’s disclosure last week that it will finally undertake that study. “It’s absolutely coming too late,” she said. “When someone requested something years ago, I think the city is just reacting rather than strategically planning. It should have been part of the design negotiations.” City officials have scrambled to explain why they were doing the study just months before the expected traffic problems could begin. The AFN emailed questions to that effect on Jan. 24 to both Mayor Greg Stanton’s office and the Phoenix Street Transportation Department. On Monday—six days later— they were asking for more time to respond. Officials did confirm that a study costing $40,000 to $50,000 has been commissioned and will take 60 to 90 days to complete. That means it would be done around the same time—or after—half of Pecos Road will already be transformed into a makeshift 40 mph thoroughfare with no shoulders and
KYRENE on page 8
See
FREEWAY on page 14
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